NEW DELHI (AP) — A thick layer of smog enveloped India’s capital Monday, filling the air with an acrid smell as pollution levels surged and worsening a public health crisis that has prompted its residents to take the streets to protest and demand government action.

By Monday morning, New Delhi’s air quality index stood at 344, a level considered “severe” and dangerous to breathe, according to the World Health Organization’s recommended exposure limits.

Late Sunday, hundreds of people, including parents and environmental activists, gathered at New Delhi’s India Gate in a rare protest, urging authorities to act. Many wore masks and carried placards, with one reading: “I miss breathing.”

“I am here just as a citizen who cares and who is worried about the state of situation that we are in w

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